Picnic on premises

Whispering Pines hosts monthly potlucks

Whispering Pines hosts monthly potlucks

February 08, 2006|LAUREEN FAGAN Tribune Staff Writer

Walk into the community room at Whispering Pines on this January night, and you'd think it was the 4th of July. Down the center of the room, a table loaded with goodies looks just like a picnic might in a warmer time. Pot roast, with carrots and potatoes. Fresh fruit, with giant, glossy strawberries. Green bean casserole. Deviled eggs. Baked beans. And a host of truly decadent-looking desserts, from a sugar-free cheesecake to lemonade pie. "I brought pineapple upside-down cake," said Donna West, one of the residents of the senior-living apartments. "And baked beans with bacon. Make sure you try it." The monthly potluck dinners began last March, when property manager Rebecca Spicer and area manager Cheryl Tomkiewicz began hosting them for residents. "That's something at my other property I've done for years," said Tomkiewicz, who manages Golden Oak Village. Friends and family are welcome guests at the dinners. "Some people feel uncomfortable coming by themselves," Spicer explained. For Betty and Fred Beals, both 81, of Mishawaka, that means inviting their son Bob. "It just gets you together," said Betty. "You know who you're living next to." And Bob, visiting from the Village Green community, praised Spicer and Tomkiewicz for their efforts. "These two women are probably the nicest women I've ever met in my life," Bob Beals said. "You never see anybody put themselves out the way these two girls do." But the residents themselves do a pretty good job. "We're the three amigas," said Janice Rensburger, 64, of South Bend, who comes to see West with another friend, June Ferguson, 64, of South Bend. Ferguson brought corn. Rensburger brought her signature item, deviled eggs. "This is nice, when everybody gets together," Ferguson explained. "I like to come with the ladies and we do stuff together," added Rensburger. At another table, a different group of ladies chatted. "Dotty made the green bean casserole," said Mary Wolf, 67, as she chatted over dessert. Meanwhile, Dotty Arelt, 74, sampled the sugar-free cheesecake Wolf had made. "It's delicious," she said. In fact, there was so much food that 94-year-old Kathlyn Fisher couldn't eat it all. "I'll have to take it home," Fisher said as two other women, a pair of sisters, chatted at the same table. "I live here, and she's my guest," said Goldie Beck, 70, of Marthetta Witham, her 76-year-old sister. "We go shopping a lot," she added. Witham agreed. "We're always together." And that's the whole point of the monthly potluck suppers at the Whispering Pines. "They meet each other, they talk to each other," Spicer said. "It's a good thing for everyone." Staff writer Laureen Fagan: lfagan@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6344